No bailout for struggling GAA counties or clubs

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No bailout for struggling GAA counties or clubs
Struggling county boards or clubs will not be bailed out by the GAA, according to a top official who yesterday warned them to "get a grip" on finances.

A number of counties have reported big losses in their recently published annual reports as the difficult economic conditions take their toll.

Leinster Council chairman Martin Skelly has said that the province will advise any county in trouble, but neither they nor Croke Park will be in a position to help financially.

"We've financial expertise, we have committees that can help, but ultimately it is down to each county to put their books in order," he said.

"That is their responsibility. At the start of every year, it is imperative in the current economic climate that they sit down and take account of what's there.

"The income generated by sponsorship, gate receipts and fundraising that has been generated in the past, in the Celtic Tiger, is no longer there. Counties have to get a grip -- they have to face up to that fact."

Leinster counties Kildare, Westmeath and Wexford have all recorded large deficits in 2011, but rather than look to Croke Park for financial help, Skelly is adamant that the onus is on any club or county in the association to cut their own cloth -- even if it means unpopular decisions have to be made.

"The important thing is that it is the responsibility of every club, every unit of our association, to make ends meet," he declared.

"They cannot spend more than what comes in and if there are hard decisions to be made, then I would expect that the people who are elected will step up to the mark and make those decisions, difficult as they may be.

"To the general public they may not be the most popular decisions that have been made, but it is the responsibility of every unit to account and balance their books because neither Croke Park nor the Leinster Council will be in a position to bail them out.

"They are only letting themselves down and letting the association down if they do not balance the books."

Irish Independent
Wednesday December 14 2011

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Hogan: Time for financial reality check
By John Fogarty

A leading CrokePark official has warned of direconsequences for GAA county boards if remedial action is not taken immediately to address financial difficulties.
Former Tipperary chairman Con Hogan has insisted that player representatives must work with their county boards to ensure prudent allocation of team expenses. Hogan was reacting to the bleak picture painted in his native Tipperary at convention, when a deficit of almost €220,000 was reported for 2011.

Hogan, a member of Croke Park’s finance committee, revealed: "The Finance Committee is looking at county accounts. Across the country, a lot of counties are finding it difficult to manage the financial situation.

"That’s down to two things — reduced income due to the tight situation that people find themselves and control of expenditure. Counties are finding it very difficult to balance that.

"The cost of preparing teams is very high and if you want to dine at the top table and be successful, you have to spend money. But you can’t spend what you haven’t got. Counties have to be realistic and talk to all of the people in their county who have an input into the expenditure."

Hogan revealed that an urgent recommendation from Croke Park’s finance committee is that county executives will ensure that player finance committees are up and running for the New Year.

He explained: "Players and managers, both in football and hurling, should be fully acquainted with the costs and problems the county board have and fully acquainted with the budgets that will have to be laid out and not exceeded.

"People are reasonable and if they’re told the facts, they will respond accordingly. The other thing coming out of the review of finances is that not alone counties, but clubs are embarking on developments that they can’t afford. This is a time for pulling back and entrenchment, rather than spending."

Hogan warned: "If you do get into trouble, the banks won’t give you the money and the resources aren’t in the community at the moment to raise funds. I would appeal to clubs to be very conservative in what they are doing. Hold on to what you have, keep it in good condition and wait for another time to go into further development."

Referring specifically to Tipperary, Hogan reflected: "The long and the short of it is that we brought in a deficit of €126,000 last year and €219,000 this year. It doesn’t take a genius to know that can’t go on."

He continued: "Tipperary has to solve its own financial problem. We have to solve it as a county and it’s not enough to look up at the officers and expect them to solve it. We have to solve it together. We’re a county together and we rejoice when our senior hurlers or minor footballers win All-Irelands. We enjoy the collective glory of that but we have to understand collective responsibility to ensure that our finances are in order."

GAA president Christy Cooney also expressed his concern yesterday but remained adamant Croke Park were neither in a position to — nor prepared to — bail out any county, apart from offering advice via the central finance committee.

"We’re not in a position to bail out and we’re not going to bail them out. I support what (Leinster Council chairman) Martin Skelly said last week that counties have to manage their affairs and we’re saying that continuously to counties — manage your affairs, keep within your budgets, don’t overspend."

But Cooney emphasised the bailout option is completely off the table. "I think it would be a not-too-wise thing to do because if you do it once, will it happen again?"

Instead, Cooney believes officials must look at improving gate receipts by thinking creatively about admission prices.

"A lot of counties’ gate receipts are down. Counties are going to have to put attractive packages together to keep patrons going to our matches and have their prices at a level people can afford. We have done it very sensibly here at Croke Park for the last year. I think that has to transcend throughout the association at provincial and county level."

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, December 21, 2011